Monday Blues
by chlorineobsession
Summary: "I love you," he whispered, painting the words across her skin like a masterpiece and watching her face for some sign of the sentiment being reciprocated, but she didn't seem to have heard him. [ShikaTema/Shikamaru X Temari] [one-shot][Third genre-Tragedy]


_And so it starts, and like the rest it too will end, it will, my friend. And if my eyes start turning white, at least I'll know that you thought I thought I was right._

* * *

"Is that supposed to mean yes?" Shikamaru asked, watching her shocked expression dry to her face like paint. How long was she going to stay surprised for?

"Repeat the question. I think I heard you wrong."

He laughed. "I think it's about time we tell our friends."

She shook her head. "No, I still can't quite understand."

He rolled his eyes. "Temari. Can I get _some_ kind of coherent answer? Please?"

They were about to leave her apartment to go to a party at Kiba's, and he figured that that would be the perfect opportunity to inform their friends of the fact that they'd been dating for a little over half a year now. It was a gathering of the Konoha Twelve, and since Temari was in town she was invited to tag along.

She considered him for a moment before nodding slowly and pulling on a pair of shoes. They were more refined and elegant than the sandals she usually wore, but he could see how she still valued comfort and practicality more than aesthetics. That said, she'd made the effort by pulling on a black dress that ended mid-thigh and showed off some of her assets in a way that made Shikamaru wish they could just spend the night in alone.

"Fine."

He held back a smile at her response. This was a step further in their relationship that he'd never expected to go so smoothly. To him, this was a greater advancement than sex (probably since they hadn't discussed it and she'd been the one to initiate it) because it showed that she was willing to publicly accept him.

They walked to Kiba's in a gentle silence that was occasionally interrupted by slices of sentences being exchanged by the pair.

Shikamaru briefly wondered how he felt about her. They'd been seeing each other romantically for about eight months, and she was fun to be around. He enjoyed her quips and taunting more than he'd admit, and the sex was definitely worth any amount of trouble . He figured he'd settle for "strong appreciation and absolute respect" for the time being: Love seemed like too strong a word. He'd have plenty of time to mull over it when she left the next afternoon.

"Here we are," Shikamaru announced, turning into the house he knew well as Kiba's home.

"Nice place," Temari observed, going up the few steps to the front door and knocking politely but assertively.

"Temari! Shikamaru! Come on in!" An excited Kiba exclaimed as he answered the door.

They settled themselves down in the sitting room and ignored the wolf whistles sent their way as they sat down on the sofa side-by-side.

"How do we tell them?" Shikamaru asked quietly, opening a can of beer and handing it to her. Temari shrugged and nodded in thanks as she accepted the drink from him. "It'll come up in conversation."

Sure enough, Naruto slid in beside them and gave Shikamaru a nudge.

"It would be a pity if someone asked Temari out before you, eh, Shika?"

Temari rolled her eyes at his lack of discretion.

"Naruto," she said calmly. "You _do_ realise I'm seeing someone at the moment, right?"

Naruto stared at her, his jaw dropping.

"B-but... I thought you and-"

"You think _we're_ dating?" She pointed dramatically to herself and Shikamaru with a patronizing look.

"I mean..." Naruto rubbed the back of his neck and gave them both an apologetic look before leaving to return to a blushing Hinata.

"I thought we agreed to tell them." Shikamaru stated.

"I didn't deny it. I just said that I was seeing someone, which I _am:_ You."

He smirked at her and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.

"We don't have to _tell_ them." She shrugged.

"B-but we said-"

"Shh. Hear me out."

He stopped talking and he felt her hand on his collar as she pulled his face closer to hers.

"We _could_ just show them."

He was mildly shocked by her suggestion, but he was definitely up for it. They were never really the type for PDA, though that was mainly because they'd always kept their relationship on the down-low. Besides, they were surrounded by friends, not strangers.

Within a second, his lips found hers and he kissed her gently as he brought his hand to her hip, breaking after a brief moment.

"I don't think anyone saw," he observed in an undertone.

"Shall we continue?" She suggested.

"Absolutely."

She grinned and brought her arms around his neck, kissing him deeply for what could have been minutes as he twined his fingers in her hair and shifted to be closer to her.

They realised the room was very still and quiet around them and finally decided to pull apart.

"I need answers." Was the first sentence uttered, coming from a wide-eyed Ino.

"How can we answer something when there's no question?" Temari asked, aloof as ever.

"But Temari! You said you were seeing..." Naruto stopped mid-sentence. "You two are dating?!"

Shikamaru nodded as Chōji slowly brought his hands together in a mocking round of applause and money was exchanged between people.

"Okay. If you two are going to be all lovey-dovey, you can get a room," Kiba grumbled eventually. "My couch is _not_ where I want the first of your kids to be conceived."

The group gradually got over the shock of seeing the _"Lazy Ass Shikamaru"_ making out with _"The Woman Whom He Considered More Troublesome Than His Mother"_ and moved on to playing games such as Paranoia and Dare.

"Do you think they'd notice if we left?" Temari whispered eventually.

"Yes." He replied. "But we can let them notice."

He reached for her hand and they crept out of the house in a fit of alcohol-induced giggles.

It was raining as they slipped along the path, having to raise their voices to be heard over the pattering of raindrops.

"We should have told them ages ago," Shikamaru panted as he began sprinting down the street with her hand still clutched to his chest.

"Absolutely," she agreed, turning to face him and skipping backwards to continue the movement.

"I fucking love you," he sighed quietly, realising as he said it that it was the complete and utter truth.

"What?" She called, leaning forward to hear him as she waited for him to repeat himself. She almost tripped backwards as she continued to speed on ahead of him in reverse, but he held her hand tightly and she found her balance fast.

"I said, we should get food," he lied.

She nodded and they roamed the streets looking for an open takeout shop, eventually settling for Ichiraku Ramen. The pair wolfed down a bowl each and Temari insisted on paying for them both, claiming that she still owed him for the last time they'd gone out for food.

"Shall we head back?" Shikamaru asked, falling into step with her as they left the ramen shop.

"If you want."

And in that moment, all he wanted was for every moment of his time to be spent with her.

They walked towards the apartment that they shared during her stays and they detoured briefly by passing through the park as the rain got heavier. They slipped under an abandoned gazebo to wait out the downpour and Shikamaru (naturally) found himself seated on the bench with his lips firmly attached to Temari's as she moved on top of him, pulling away every few minutes to laugh or moan as his hands trailed up her body and marvelled at the feeling of having her pressed to him, soft yet strong and undoubtedly happy. As he began trailing kisses down her ear, her jaw, her neck, she pulled out his ponytail and raked her fingers through his hair.

"I love you," he whispered, painting the words across her skin like a masterpiece and watching her face for some sign of the sentiment being reciprocated, but she didn't seem to have heard him.

They broke apart after what seemed like only moments, but he knew that they'd been making out for quite some time as the rain had completely ceased and the night birds were mid-song.

They headed back to the apartment and lay in bed together in a comfortable silence. Before he fell asleep, he could have sworn he heard her whisper.

"Almost."

But maybe he'd just imagined it.

* * *

 _There was a time when I thought I was king, and you could be queen, so it's a bad thing to hear: It's gonna be a long and lonely year._

* * *

"So you mean to tell me," Shikamaru said slowly, as he paced around the office. "That you were lied to?"

Naruto began to answer, but Shikamaru held up his hand to cut him off.

"And my wife," he continued. "Payed the price?"

Naruto looked down, ashamed.

"I'm sorry Shikamaru, really I am." He said quietly. "Take as many days as you need off, I... I understand."

Shikamaru turned on his heel and left, not bothering to slam the door as he felt a lump form in his throat.

He wanted to break something. Not by tossing a stone at a window or throwing something from a height, but by crushing whatever happened to be nearest to him at the time with his own two fists and feeling it crumble from the strength of his touch. It was a pure and true anger that he'd not felt in years.

Real and raw like a forest fire, threatening to light every damn fuse in its way.

Once he got home, Shikamaru pulled the kenchin soup that he'd been cooking off the stove and marched to his room. He collapsed onto his bed, shivering uncontrollably, thoughts spinning around in his mind as though trying to piece together some sense and logic from the day's events. He tried to convince himself that it was the truth but he just couldn't wrap his head around what had happened.

Frantic knocking at the front door roused him from his mental state of overdrive. Almost in some kind of daze, he rose from the bed and wandered to the door, opening it without checking to see who stood on the other side of it.

"Shikamaru." Ino said after a long pause. She stood there looking as though she'd been crying for a while before she'd stopped by. "I came to see if you were okay."

He laughed mirthlessly. "Am I?"

Ino observed him for a moment before shaking her head with a look of defeat etched into her soft features.

"Not yet, Shika." She admitted. "I'm so sorry."

She brought her arms around his shaking frame and held him close, as though trying to keep all his separate pieces from falling apart and being tossed about in the wind. The wind...

"I'll mind Shikadai for a few days if you'd like, come to me if you need anything at all, alright?"

He nodded as he held her back, breathing heavily, but still not crying somehow.

"Thanks." He murmured, feeling more thankful than he'd admit to her that she'd come to see him.

Ino was a good friend, and she knew his boundaries. She also knew that he needed his time alone to process what had happened. She'd seen it when Asuma had died, and she'd seen it with Shikaku's death as well.

After Ino left, Shikamaru padded to the kitchen and pulled a bottle of beer from the fridge. He considered breaking it against the wall, but he had never been one for violence, so he simply wrenched it open and took a long drink, knowing it would numb none of the pain at all.

His thoughts wandered to Shikadai, who was on a mission at the moment. He would hear about the death straight after returning...

But what if _he_ didn't return either?

What if someone _else_ had lied about the mission requirements, and he was sent on a mission that was harder than he could handle? One that was more dangerous than he'd expected?

His eyes skimmed over the familiar surfaces of the kitchen, and at last the tears began to well in his eyes and fall pointlessly from his chin, dripping to the floor.

He never realised how much space emptiness could take up until the knowledge of her absence hit him.

He could easily picture her wiping down the marble countertop and frowning as she came across a smudge that wouldn't fade. How she would lean over and squint at it, rubbing it until it disappeared and she would straighten up with a tiny smile at her accomplishment.

He let out a pitiful sob and he barely noticed himself dropping the glass bottle of beer, but it only hit him properly for the first time as the glass shattered into countless pieces at his bare feet:

Temari was gone.

* * *

 _And if you can't tell me how you felt, it's probably better that I make it up myself, because if I thought you loved me once, then I'd be happy forever_.

* * *

Temari cocked her head to the side as she saw Shikamaru wheezing and trudging into the house with a box in his arms.

"What?" He grimaced as he spied her arched eyebrow and smug expression.

"Oh, nothing," she sighed. "You just seem to be... Struggling a little bit there."

"Not at all," he lied smoothly, a point that was directly contradicted by the wince that followed shortly thereafter as he felt himself losing his grip on the cardboard box.

Temari chuckled and took hold of a side of the box.

"At least let me take half, you sexist twat."

He rolled his eyes at her somewhat creative insult and he let go of half the load, secretly grateful for his girlfriend's superior strength.

They laid it down in the corner and pushed it in to the wall beside another stack of boxes.

"How many more are left?" Temari asked, placing her hands on her hips and arching her spine backwards.

"Just a few, three or four at most." Shikamaru did the same and let out a satisfied sigh at the prospect of nearly being finished.

"Home sweet home, eh?"

They each took hold of one end of the next box, and Shikamaru suddenly deciphered a thought that had been bothering him from the back if his mind for the past few months.

"Hey Temari," he blurted, getting her attention instantly. "We should get married."

She stumbled and nearly dropped her end of the box, but she caught it (and her balance) right before any damage could be done.

"Do you wanna maybe wait until we're finished this to propose to me in an ever-so-romantic manner, Romeo?"

He breathed a sigh of relief at the fact that she hadn't attacked him for his suggestion.

They brought in the last of the boxes and Temari sat on one of them as Shikamaru sat cross-legged in the floor, peering up at her curiously and trying to read the expression on her face.

"So explain your proposition to me a little more clearly,"

He chuckled and shuffled in closer to her, placing a hand on her knee as he looked her in the eye as seriously as he could manage.

"Do you mean proposal?"

"No. Please elaborate on this business proposition."

"Okay," he considered her carefully before speaking. "I propose that you allow me to put a ring on your finger and call you my lovely wife, in return for you being allowed to nag me relentlessly over my bad habits, _and_ you get to call me your beloved husband. Oh, and I get to be your favourite man alive too I suppose, because it means you choose me an-"

"Shikamaru."

He stopped rambling and lowered his gaze.

"Are you serious about this?"

"About what?" He glanced back up at her and she sighed, clearly perplexed.

"About, well, _us_?"

He was surprised by what she was asking.

"Hell, if I weren't serious, do you really think I'd ask? Tem, I know I'm not the most affectionate, or the most passionate, or the most... Well, anything really, but I'd be lying if I said that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life by your side. I love the time I spend with you, and I want more of that. More of us. I'd be damned if I let you go. Temari, I love you."

"I love the fear that I associate with your rages, and the joy that can literally sum up what I feel when you're happy. I want to make you laugh and smile and I want you to enjoy your life. I want to be a part of it. Please, marry me."

She looked completely stunned for a minute before shaking her head and laughing.

"Wow," she smiled. "Okay, sure."

" _Okay, sure_?"Shikamaru groaned. "Can't you just be like a normal woman and say yes?"

She pursed her lips mockingly and leaned close to his face.

"Sorry, Shika, but was that proposal for me, or for a normal woman?"

He captured her lips in a kiss before she could move away from him and he pulled her down off the box and onto his lap.

"For you," he murmured, pulling away from her briefly to sigh the words for her to hear. "All for you."

She hummed happily and brought her lips back to his, muttering the word "good," right before he sealed the distance between them.

* * *

 _And who will write, and who will fight for this man I know I am? And if you're running out of space, please don't erase your time with me._

* * *

He had forgotten to fear the third person.

He obviously knew that Gaara and Kankurō would be expecting his pelt as a rug, but Baki had somehow slipped his mind.

A big mistake.

The small group of around twenty Sunans that had arrived in Konoha had come the day before Temari's funeral, and were milling around Konoha with sullen expressions and withering flowers.

The knock on Shikamaru's door hardly startled him as he rose like a ghost and made his way to the door, expecting to find his two brothers-in-law. He pulled the door open and barely had time to react as he felt a strong hand close over his throat and drive him backwards, slamming him into the wall.

"You _bastard_." A calm voice spoke, but Shikamaru heard the gentle waver and minute crack at the end of the second word.

"Baki," he breathed, as audibly as he could. He was too drained to struggle against the older man's grip, but he was released after a few seconds.

He looked at Temari's former sensei and saw the pure hatred in his eyes.

"I loved that girl," Baki spat. "If she'd stayed in Suna, maybe..."

"I know," Shikamaru reached to place an awkwardly comforting hand on the man's shoulder, but he was met with a sudden, sharp strike to the gut. Staggering backwards, he coughed and found himself on the floor.

"Stupid fool," Baki growled. "Don't _touch_ me! This is _your_ fault!"

Shikamaru got to his feet and watched as Baki came to stand before him.

"I taught her to control her emotions, and not to be swayed by love," The older man snarled. "And you had to unravel it all. You had to destroy her barriers, didn't you? You just _had_ to make her fall in love with you."

A tear rolled down Baki's cheek and he swiped it away instantly with a shocked expression on his face.

"Baki." Shikamaru said in the most level voice he could manage. "Doesn't this scene seem familiar?"

He watched Baki's face crumple as he nodded, a laugh forcing it's way out of his mouth.

"Yes." Baki chuckled through tears. "It does. But Temari isn't going to patch you up this time."

"I know you must hate me, but please just... Not today." Shikamaru choked out, feeling tears sting his eyes as well. He slid down to the ground and saw Baki doing the same thing.

They sat down side by side and said nothing for a moment, both lost in thought with tears blurring their vision.

"This is hard for you too, kid."

"No shit."

"I'll get you a drink tonight," Baki said awkwardly, looking at Shikamaru with a slight frown.

It dawned on the genius that this was Baki's odd way of comforting him- which wasn't a task he did all that often to _anyone_.

"Thank you." He said genuinely.

Baki stood up to leave, and before the door could close and hide his figure, Shikamaru called out to him.

"Baki?"

The man hesitated and turned to face him, his features indistinguishable as he was backlit by the light from the outside.

"She loved you too."

Baki stood still for a moment as though he was about to say something in response to Shikamaru's proclamation, but he seemed to decide against it and he left the house, closing the door gently behind him.

Gaara and Kankurō came by with a very similar approach to greeting him. Kankurō was clawing at his face in an instant, though Gaara stepped in when he deemed his older brother's attack to be too violent. Kankurō spent the rest of the visit encased in a sand fist as the two others exchanged condolences.

"Will it be a closed or an open casket?" Gaara asked eventually.

"I thought I'd let you decide. I've made most of the decisions so far, it seemed only fair to give you that responsibility."

The red head's expression hadn't changed throughout his entire visit, but at those words, his gaze seemed to shift slightly.

"I appreciate that, Shikamaru," he said softly, "but I'm afraid that making a decision like that would just make all of this seem more real."

He glanced up to meet Shikamaru's gaze with a look that screamed ' _please understand_ ', and Shikamaru did, so he nodded.

"Kankurō. Do you have a preference?"

The hooded man had fallen silent and he was observing the two others with a distant expression.

"No." He said after a moment.

"Kankurō." Shikamaru stepped closer to the sand covered man and looked him dead in the eye.

"Now is your chance to have a say. Don't let yourself regret your choice."

"I..." Kankurō tried to glare at Shikamaru, but he failed miserably. "Open casket. I want to see her one more time."

After Kankurō's defeated sigh, Shikamaru nodded and left the hallway, knowing that they would leave the house eventually.

He went to his bedroom and stared at the empty bed for a minute before forcing himself to take a seat at the foot of it.

There was a single gold leaf laid on Temari's pillow. He'd caught it as it drifted in the wind the day after her death. It seemed only fitting to leave it where she'd once rested her head.

"Temari," he breathed, staring at the leaf as though willing it to move. He prayed for a gust of wind, or even a gentle breeze, to sweep his sorrow and doubt away and replace those emotions with a void.

He waited for a sign. For something, anything, that would let him know that she was there with him, watching over him.

The leaf remained on the pillow.

Nothing moved.

* * *

 _And tell me, just like you would when we were kids, all those things we did. Because it's a God's thing to see, when you're with me, way back then._

* * *

"I can't _believe_ that idiot did that!" Temari growled, dabbing at the corner of Shikamaru's lip with a damp cloth.

"I thought I wasn't meant to see you in your wedding clothes before the actual ceremony?"

Temari rolled her eyes at him.

"I don't want to see you standing at the altar with a bruised lip just because my _dumbass_ sensei is pissed that you knocked me up!"

Shikamaru chuckled and instantly regretted it as he felt a stinging pain at the spot where Temari was wiping away blood.

"Stop moving," she hissed, a tinge of concern in her voice.

"Temari?"

She glanced up at him and he took her face in his hands, kissing her deeply.

"You look beautiful."

She quickly masked her blush by smirking and saying "don't I always?"

"Temari?" He said again, still looking her straight in the eyes as he moved to rest a hand on the small of her back.

"Yes?"

"I love you."

There was no escape. She was trapped.

He'd never blatantly let those three words stand alone in a conversation, and she clearly didn't know how to react to them.

"I-I don't..." She we looked so baffled at his proclamation and she hastily shook her head. "I don't know how to reply to that."

"I've heard that 'I love you too' is quite a popular response," Shikamaru suggested, slightly offended that she hadn't already said it. Come to think of it, had she ever said that she loved him?

"Does saying it make it real?"

"What?" He was taken aback by her statement. Did she really not love him?

"By that, I mean do you really need me to say it out loud to believe me, or do you trust me and know me enough to be aware of the fact that I wouldn't marry a man I don't love?"

He was startled, but not displeased by her words.

"I wouldn't hurt to hear it said once in a while," he admitted, averting his gaze.

Temari sighed and moved so that she was sitting right in front of him at eye level.

"Shikamaru." She huffed. "I am about to walk down an aisle and see you standing at an altar with, hopefully, a massive smile on your face. My former sensei is going to give me away to you because I've been convincing him for years that you're the one that I want to be with. I'm hoping to start a family with you, and only you. But all you want to hear is three overused mediocre words? Really?" She gave him a mocking smile. "I thought I'd struck gold with you. I clearly only struck stuffing."

Her smile gave way to a chuckle as she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips and pressed her forehead to his.

"I love you, Shikamaru, and if you really need to hear it in words, then I'll say it to you until you realise that words only ever sink in when they're different. I love you."

She stood and straightened out her white kimono, flicking his ear as she walked past him.

"I'll ask Baki to apologise for whopping your ass for stealing my heart, and I expect you to accept that apology. Okay?"

"Alright." Shikamaru grumbled, watching as she left the small room.

Once the door shut behind her, he let out a tiny breath of relief.

Spending the rest of his life with this woman would be troublesome, but he knew that, somehow, he was going to enjoy every minute of it.

* * *

 _And if you can't tell me how you felt, it's probably better that I make it up myself._

* * *

He swept away a few autumn leaves that had come to cover the top of her grave overnight as he knelt in front of her head stone, placing another small potted cactus next to the fresh sunflowers that Ino must have left.

"I'm back," he said lamely with a small smile on his lips. "Again."

It was a breezy day, and he preferred it that way-it felt like he was closer to her when the air swirled around him, scribbling in its own language that Temari once knew so well.

"Shikadai sprained his ankle when he tried to teach Inojin how to fly a kite." He continued, his hand subconsciously moving to trace the letters that were carved into the polished marble. "He has an affinity for the wind, though he's clumsy with how he goes about proving it."

"I met a civilian who lost her husband in a mission similar to yours, I can't remember her name though." Shikamaru admitted, reading the words on her gravestone over and over.

 _'Temari Nara'_. It comforted him to know that even in death, a piece of him remained a part of her being, of her existence that had yet to cease.

A small, no, a _Large_ part of him had died with her, and she carried it with pride, his name, _their_ name, _Nara_. Set in stone for the world to see.

"She's old enough to be my granny, and wiser than my dad. She told me that her husband used to be able to control vines, and that she sometimes feels that he's still with her when ivy starts creeping around the walls of her house."

"She says it's some kind of sign. Even though it happens anyways, and it would have happened even if he hadn't died on the mission, it's always completely and utterly him."

He smiled sadly at the stone as though it would change what had happened, but he'd learnt in the past three months that while moving on may seem impossible, it's inevitable.

"I have a mission coming soon, so I won't be here for the next four days." Shikamaru explained, standing and dusting off his trousers. "But this isn't goodbye,"

He could never catch the gentle sway of the wind as it cut through the sky, but he would hold out his arms, outstretched, and feel as it curled around his fingers and held him, albeit briefly in a familiar and comforting embrace.

In those moments, he knew that it wasn't a miracle. It wasn't a coincidence.

It was _her._

* * *

 _Because if I thought you loved me once, then I'd be happy forever._

* * *

"What kind of mission, did you say again?"

"I _said_ ," Temari sighed, dropping the laundry basket at the foot of the bed and separating his clothes from hers. "An escort mission. Basic stuff, I won't even need weapons apparently."

He glanced up at her as she put the clothing away into the closet and flopped down onto the bed with a sigh.

"I'll bring my tessen anyways. You never know," she reasoned.

"Probably for the best." Shikamaru murmured, draping an arm over her waist and pulling her in closer to his chest. "I'll make breakfast tomorrow, Naruto gave me the day off."

Temari began smiling, but instantly narrowed her eyes at him instead. "What do you want in return?"

"What do you mean?"

"You never get up first for no reason Shikamaru. I know you."

"Well..." He said with a sly smile, slipping his hand under her top to feel her skin against his. "It means you get a lie in in the morning, so you can stay up a little later tonight..."

She considered him for a moment before conceding.

"But-" she interjected, placing a hand over his lips right before he could press them to hers. "You're getting Shikadai up and ready for training. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Shikadai, be sure to say bye to your mother before you leave!" Shikamaru called to his half-awake son who grumbled in response.

After Temari was dressed and ready to leave, she opened the door and exited the house. However, she found herself unable to take a step off the porch.

"Not saying bye?" Shikamaru whispered from behind her.

He could practically sense her rolling her eyes.

"I'll only be gone for two days anyway, Shika," she murmured.

He released the shadow possession jutsu and watched her walk away without turning back. On the porch, he saw her tessen and the lunch he'd packed for her.

"Troublesome woman," he grumbled to himself. She hadn't even said goodbye to him.

"Shika!"

His head snapped around and he saw Temari running back towards her house with a triumphant smile.

"What?"

"I wanted to piss you off before I left, I see that it worked," she laughed, coming to a stop right in front of him and giving him a swift kiss. "I'll see you in two days, alright?"

Shikamaru chuckled and wrapped his arms around her waist to kiss her more deeply.

"Alright," he said after pulling away. "I'll make some Kenchin soup for you then."

"Thanks."

She wriggled out of his grasp and took her lunch and her tessen before looking at him again.

Grinning, she breathed: "I love you."

She turned and walked away from home, leaving Shikamaru looking at her back as she melted into the sunlit horizon, glowing on the wings of the wind.

He smiled.

She loved him once, and somehow, that was all that ever really mattered to him.

 _The End_

* * *

 **A/N: Yeahlol, not great I know sorry. I've been a mess recently just in case you hadn't noticed, and I ended this on a happy note which makes my brain scream at me but whatever, the world is miserable enough without me adding to it.**

 **Please leave a review or favourite this if you like it, that'd mean a lot to this grumpy-ass teen.**

 **Thanks for reading this and sticking with it till the end, I hope it wasn't as boring to read as it was to write.**

 **Oh yeah, and the lyrics come from the song "Goodbye Blue Monday" by little Green Cars. It's my second favourite song and the fact that there are no good versions of it on youtube just makes me angrily angry.**

 **Anyways, please review!**

 **Charlie Out~**


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